Djemila

Djemila (Arabic: the beautiful one) is an archaeological site of a mountain village in Algeria, near the northern coast east of Algiers. The site has some of the best preserved Roman ruins in North Africa. Originally named Cuicul by the Romans, it was established as a military garrison in the 1st century AD to exploit and control the surrounding agricultural region. It has been estimated that it had a population of 20,000 in the 3rd century.[1] The site was eventually abandoned in the 5th century, but not resettled by the Algerians. Being deemed by UNESCO "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared; and to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history",[2] it was decreed a World Heritage Site in 1982.